Caucus Rules

Rules for the Selection of Delegates to the Republican National Convention
and the Republican State Convention

No Changes in Article IV, but it’s important to note this section as we change the Idaho Republican Party Rules.

ARTICLE IV: STATE CONVENTION

Section 2: The Rules of the Convention shall be the rules adopted by the previous Republican State Convention until such time as the State Convention adopts new rules, which shall become effective immediately. Such rules, however, shall not be inconsistent with the rules for Delegate selection as adopted by the State Central Committee.

Article V and Article VI:ARTICLE V: IDAHO REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION CAUCUSSection 1: The Idaho Nomination Caucus shall be held on the first Tuesday allowed by the Republican National Committee (RNC), without incurring a penalty. The Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus is not winner-take-all; accordingly the RNC allows Idaho an early caucus opportunity (typically in February or March).

(a) For a candidate to be placed on the official ballot for the Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus, he or she shall submit a $2,000 filing fee to the Idaho Republican Party no later than 30 days prior to the caucus date. The fees will be distributed evenly among the 44 county central committees to offset counties’ costs of conducting their caucuses.

Section 2: The Idaho GOP Chairman shall send official notice of the Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus to counties no later than 45 days prior to the caucus. Idaho GOP Headquarters shall provide County Chairmen with the recommended form for providing notice to caucus voters. No later than 20 days prior to the caucus, the Idaho GOP Chairman will notify all county central committee chairs of the candidates to be included in the official caucus voting.

Section 3: Each County Chairman shall notify the voters as soon as possible, but no later than ten (10) days prior to the Caucus. Notification should be printed in the local paper or provided by another recognized means of announcing the caucus time and location(s). Phone calls or emails to caucus voters are strongly encouraged. The County Chairman shall notify the Idaho GOP Headquarters of the meeting location(s) ten (10) days prior to the caucus.

Section 4: Any individuals desiring to have their names voted on at the Idaho Republican Presidential Caucus shall submit a declaration of candidacy along with a $2,000.00 filing fee, at least 30 days from the date of the caucus. The campaign of each qualifying candidate is entitled to space on the caucus floor.Section 5: Idaho GOP Headquarters shall provide each County Chairman with the recommended form for a ballot to be used in caucus voting. Each county shall provide enough ballots and/or tokens to conduct the caucus. The State Chairman may grant any county’s request to use a method of voting that does not consist of paper ballots. The State Executive Committee may appoint representatives to oversee any aspect of any county’s caucus process.

Section 6: All registered Republicans of the county, including same-day registrants, as well as 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the date of the General Election who have completed a registration card or, if 17, have signed an affidavit indicating their age and eligibility, are entitled to participate in their county’s caucus. All caucus voters must sign a register next to their name or verify their name on a spreadsheet to affirm that they are entitled to vote and are present and participating in the caucus. The County Chair or a designate will call the meeting to order. Prior to voting, the County Chair or a designate will instruct the participants of the voting procedures and how the ballots will be counted. The Chair or designate shall also allow for each candidate on the ballot, or a representative of their campaign, to offer some brief remarks to the assembly, and at the start of each successive round, should such rounds be provided for.

Section 7: Voting takes place in successive rounds. After each round, the candidate receiving the fewest votes and any candidate(s) receiving fewer than 15% of the Caucus vote are removed from the ballot. Voting continues until a single candidate receives greater than 50% of the vote, or until a final vote is taken for the final two candidates.

Section 8: Ballots or tokens shall be distributed at the time specified in the Idaho GOP Chairman’s Caucus Call. Ballots or tokens shall only be distributed to those registered caucus voters who have signed in. Ballots or tokens must be collected from caucus voters as they are voted and returned. This is a secret vote, and County Central Committee members must do everything within their power to ensure that the ballot remains secret.

Section 9: Ballots and/or tokens shall be counted at the caucus site, supervised by a three-person committee. The committee is appointed by the County Chairman and approved by a majority voice vote of caucus participants. For counties with multiple venues, the Chair will similarly appoint three-person subcommittees to supervise the counting at the extra venues. The County Chairman and the three-person committee will certify the count as correct.

Section 10: At the end of each round of voting, the County Chairman shall announce the results. Voting continues until a single candidate receives greater than 50% of the vote or until a final vote is taken for two remaining candidates. After the final round of voting, the County Chairman shall phone the final results to the Idaho Republican Party Chairman.

Section 11: Once all county results have been phoned in, the Idaho GOP Chairman will declare a preliminary winner of the Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus. After voting totals have been counted and called in, the committee-certified report of the final-round voting totals must be placed in a sealed envelope and sent via certified mail or private overnight service to Idaho GOP Headquarters. The Idaho GOP Chairman will appoint a committee to verify the total of all votes cast for each candidate match the reported county totals. After the verification of all voting totals, the Idaho GOP Chairman will formally declare the official Caucus winner.

ARTICLE VI: APPORTIONMENT AND SELECTION OF DELEGATES TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONALCONVENTION

Section 1: The State Chairman shall appoint a committee to calculate the Delegate apportionment. After all Caucus votes are counted, the proper apportionment is calculated as follows:

Section 2: Each county receives a “weight” equal to its proportion of County Delegates allotted for the State Convention. For example, if there are 420 total County Delegates allotted for the State Convention and County A has 16 of them, then County A’s weight will be 16/420, or 3.81%. The County weights will be used to calculate the apportionment of Delegates and Alternates to the Republican National Convention.

Section 3: Each county’s share of National Delegates is calculated by multiplying the State’s allotment of National Convention Delegates by the county’s weight. Continuing the example, if the State is allotted 32 National Delegates, then County A would have a share of 3.81% of them, or 1.2192 of the 32 total National Delegates.

(a) Any county that does not hold a caucus on the date specified in Article V, Section 1, shall have its share of National Delegates apportioned to all participating counties and in the same proportions as detailed in sections 2 and 3 above.

Section 4: Any candidate winning greater than 50% of a county’s vote will be awarded that entire county’s share of National Delegates. When neither candidate wins greater than 50%, the candidates will split the county’s share of National Delegates, in proportion to the candidates’ county vote totals.

Section 5: The sum of all the Counties’ shares for each candidate, rounding the sum to the nearest whole delegate, will be that candidate’s share of the Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention with the proviso that, if one candidate wins more than 50% of the Idaho allotment of delegates, that candidate shall receive the entire 100% of the allotment of Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention. If the computation results conquer college grade calculator in an unallocated Delegate, the Delegate shall be assigned to the candidate receiving the highest number of votes in the Idaho Caucus. If the computation results in the allocation of more Delegates than are available for allocation, the Delegate assignment to the candidate receiving the least number of Caucus votes shall be reduced accordingly.

Section 6: The State Chairman, in accordance with the agenda of the Idaho Republican State Convention, shall devote one (1) portion of the State Convention meeting to the selection of Delegates to the Republican National Convention in Presidential election years.

Section 7: Each Republican candidate for President of the United States shall prepare a list of its proposed Republican National Convention delegates for Idaho. The list must be filed with the Idaho Republican Party no later than 30 days prior to the State Convention. Eighty percent (80%) of the Idaho Delegates / Alternates to the Republican National Convention shall be selected from the lists of proposed delegates in proportion to the Delegates won in the Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus as calculated in Section 5 above. The remaining twenty percent shall be selected as pledged delegates to the Republican National Convention and in the same proportion as the Idaho Caucus apportionment. These delegates will be selected by the Nominations Committee of the Idaho State Republican Convention.

Section 8: The Delegates and Alternates elected shall be obliged on the first ballot taken at the Republican National Convention to vote for the candidate who nominated them, provided any Delegates selected as representing the “uncommitted” choice shall be free to cast their vote for any candidate whose name has been placed in nomination before the Republican National Convention.

Section 9: In the event of death or withdrawal of a candidate or release of Delegates by a candidate prior to the first ballot at the National Convention, Delegates committed to such a candidate shall, thereupon, become uncommitted delegates.

Section 10: In the event of the failure of a candidate to file a list of proposed Delegates/Alternates with the Idaho Republican Party, the State Convention may select and specify any persons preferring or identified with said candidate to serve as Delegates/Alternates to the National Convention in such numbers as the candidate is entitled. If a candidate who fails to file the required list also dies, withdraws, or releases Delegates prior to the official commencement of the State Convention, then the State Convention may select uncommitted Delegates/Alternates in such numbers as the candidates would have been entitled.

Section 11: In the event that any candidate is entitled to the selection of a number of Delegates/Alternates greater than the number of those persons whose names were filed with the Idaho Republican Party by the candidate, or in the event a person on the list indicates an inability to serve as a Delegate/Alternate, the State Convention shall select and specify persons to fill those Delegates/Alternates vacancies from a supplemental list filed by the candidate’s designated representative with the Idaho Republican Party.

Section 12: Any individual or official who willfully violates Republican Party rules while conducting any stage of a caucus – to the extent that the results of the caucus can be called into question – shall be penalized by being stripped of their county’s delegates, unless it appears that the rules were intentionally broken for the purpose of stripping such delegates. Any aggrieved party may appeal a violation of the caucus rules through the judicial process of the Idaho Republican Party. The judicial branch of the party may order that a caucus be re-held, under the supervision of the State Party, if such can be done in a timely fashion, considering the time requirements specified herein. Any party official engaged in a substantive violation of the rules shall forfeit their office as penalty.

Section 13: Declaring an emergency. Any proposed rule related specifically to the Presidential Caucus shall be in effect upon its passage by the Rules Committee of the State Central Committee, subject to later modification or reversal at the next regular meeting of the State Central Committee. The Rules Committee may meet by conference call and may vote by phone or email on any matter specifically related to the Presidential Caucus. This section shall expire after the 2012 Idaho Republican Caucus is completed.